To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for his assessment of whether proposals for the draft Climate Action Plan 2023-2027 are sufficient for reducing emissions in line with the first carbon budget.

Mr Muir

Mr Speaker, I intended, with your permission, to group questions 2 and 8, but the Member was not here to ask question 2. I met the former Minister for the Economy, Minister Murphy, in June of last year. I met him again in January of this year, and I met the current Minister for the Economy, Minister Archibald, in March, when the climate action plans and opportunities for green growth were discussed. I can confirm that the policies and proposals in the draft climate action plan are sufficient for meeting the emissions reductions required by Northern Ireland's first carbon budget. The projected emissions are expected to meet the first carbon budget by achieving a 33·1% average annual reduction from the 1990 baseline, compared with Northern Ireland's legislated carbon budget of a 33% average annual reduction.

Mr Muir

We sit here in June 2025. The Climate Change Act was passed in March 2022. Shortly after that, the institutions did not sit for two years. Those were two years in which the opportunity to implement the legislation was missed as a result of the collapse of the institutions by the DUP. When I brought to the Executive proposals to set the carbon budget and consult on the climate action plan, there was yet more delay. Climate action requires a whole-of-government commitment to decarbonisation. If the institutions had not been collapsed and everyone had put their shoulders to the wheel, we would have had the carbon budget set years ago; the climate action plan would not just have been not just consulted on but agreed and delivered; a Climate Commissioner would have been in place; and a just transition commission would have been up and running. We cannot change the past, but we can change the future. Together, we must grasp the opportunities of decarbonisation. As Minister, I am determined to drive green growth. A draft green growth strategy was compiled by my predecessor, and I am determined to get it agreed. I sent it to the Executive in December of last year, and I will continue to look for its approval because there are opportunities from decarbonisation in Northern Ireland, primarily in reducing people's energy bills and giving them more security on these issues. Northern Ireland cannot afford to be a laggard on these issues.

Mr Frew

The Minister has raised many times in the Chamber today the issue of climate change targets and his legal obligations under them. Will he urge his party and the Assembly to row back on unachievable climate change targets that are highly damaging to the people of Northern Ireland, as seen in the A5 project?

Mr Muir

The targets set out in the climate change legislation were agreed unanimously as part of the overall package of legislation at the Bill's Final Stage. Northern Ireland is not an outlier in its decarbonisation goals. A high percentage of countries are aiming for decarbonisation. It is false and wrong to make out that taking climate action is impossible: it is already happening. Businesses are doing it. The success of the UK economy has been down to growth alongside a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. That is something that we are determined to do. I am focused on delivery, not on turning my back on climate action in Northern Ireland.

Mr McCrossan

Minister, at any time, did you meet the former Minister for Infrastructure, John O'Dowd, prior to his approval of the A5 in October 2024 to discuss how the A5 project might meet its Climate Change Act obligations? If so, when did you meet?

Mr Muir

First, when it comes to the A5, I want to say one thing: my thoughts are with the families and friends who have been bereaved as a result of accidents on that road. I have met a number of them, and they had heartbreaking stories. The delivery of the A5 is an Executive commitment. I back it, not just as an MLA but as the Minister responsible for rural affairs, and I am determined to have regional balance. It is important that I say that. The delivery of major infrastructure projects and climate legislation are not incompatible, but a whole-of-Executive approach to decarbonisation is needed. Everyone needs to play their part. I engaged with the former Infrastructure Minister on the project, but it was an Executive decision. I do not want to give you exact dates until I have checked those with my diary secretary. I will write back to you on that. There was engagement, and there is engagement now, because there is a cross-Executive commitment to deliver this. It is important that we work through the findings of the judge's judgement from last week. It is 100 pages long. From some people's commentary, it is clear that they have not read it. At the very end, it states:

— climate action plan —

Not taking action is not the solution; taking action is. We could have had a climate action plan in place a long time ago, but we do not have one, because one party decided that it did not want to go to work.

Mr Gaston

Minister, the agricultural targets contained in the draft climate action plan will destroy our agri-industry, with its reduction targets for livestock of 22% in dairy cattle, 17% in beef cattle and 18% in sheep, pigs and poultry. Minister, what steps are you taking to protect the industry that you are meant to champion and to protect food security, or are you happy to stick the boot into the industry, along with the other mad environmentalists?

Mr Muir

The climate action plan is out for consultation. If people want to read it, it is on the DAERA website. It is very clear that the climate action plan for 2023-27 is not about herd reduction. It is about productivity, and the plan sets that out. The actions that I am taking are that I have managed to secure funding of over £12 million for a just transition fund for agriculture. It is very clear that we need to support our farmers on the road ahead, and I am determined to do that, not just in word but in deed, through that financial support. Climate change is the biggest risk to farming in Northern Ireland, and I am determined to support agriculture and farming on the road ahead, because we owe it to them to do that. The climate action plan is out for consultation. It is a good news story about what we can do collectively to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and benefit from decarbonisation. I am very proud of so many farmers across Northern Ireland whom I have met and who do good work in that regard. They are shining lights and exemplars of delivery on the ground. It is important that I put that on the record.